


PREDATOR: DISSAPOINTED

by AlphaLima1980



Category: Aliens vs Predators Series - Various Authors, Predator Original Series (1987-1990), The Predator (2018)
Genre: Action/Adventure, Horror, Other, Science Fiction
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-12-13
Updated: 2019-09-12
Packaged: 2019-09-17 16:43:08
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 10
Words: 10,279
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16978239
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AlphaLima1980/pseuds/AlphaLima1980
Summary: A dedicated and deeply spiritual Hunter targeted Pedro Quintana, a powerful and bloodthirsty drug lord in Mexico, driven by his past experiences and cultural beliefs and thrilled by such a worthly prey he readied for the Hunt, but he will soon discover things are not what it seems. All Predator characters and events are property of 20th Century Fox. All events and names are fictional, any similitude with actual people or recent events are merely coincidental and didn't represent any particular situation.





	1. UFO

**International Space Station, Present day**

The Earth looked beautiful through the circular windows of the International Space Station; Astronaut Bill Sanders were up there for three months now and never had bored with the view. Occasionally he looked towards the moon and wondered when mankind will set feet there again. He had heard from his grandfather and his father about the day Neil Armstrong was the first man who walked on the moon, so he became an astronaut because, being a kid, he wanted to be the first human in Mars.

The moon was full, a bright pearl shining in a dark sea, and beyond, nothing but stars. Then something called Bill's attention, at first it looked like a distant star, but it was getting brighter –or closer? The star didn't twinkle, meaning it hadn't light by itself.

-"A meteor?" Sanders wondered. "But it's coming too fast."

The object was approaching, now it seemed it wasn't spherical. Tiny protruding wings each side was visible. " _A ship?_ " He thought. But there wasn't any re-supply mission scheduled, and the ship was coming from outer space, not from Earth.

-"Houston, Come in. This is ISS reporting an object moving in an inbound vector to Earth. Over" Sanders informed.

-"Negative ISS, Radar didn't show anything. Maybe it's too small. Can you confirm over?" Houston mission control responded.

-"I can see it. But you not gonna believe me, that's not a meteor and isn't small." Sanders said.

-"Radar contact negative. We're blind. Make sure you're not reporting any Chinese spy satellite or the conspiracy theorists will become crazy if there are rumors of UFOs." Houston control tech commented.

Now the object was so close that Sanders could see it clearly. It was a ship, but none like the ships built by humans. First it wasn't cylindrical like all the rockets built by NASA or another human space agency, but it was fish-like shaped.

Second, all over the hull the ship had strange markings, like hieroglyphs or cuneiform writing but more stylized. And third, before Sanders could take a photo, the ship disappeared from sight. Not like it was out of reach, but disappeared, turned it invisible. Some sparks crossed the hull and then, it wasn´t there anymore.

Sanders just hope the external cameras of the space station had recorded the object. He turned on the screen, but it showed only static.

\- o -

The Creature looked through the triangular window. The green and blue planet shone as the ship passed. There has been time since it has been on this planet. It seems the inhabitants had advance into space exploration, the habitat floating in orbit is the proof of that. It was a new sight.

Their ships were invisible to radar but active camouflage was used only on atmosphere were the ship could be seen with the naked eye. But when the Creature approached, it detected the habitat and at the risk of being discovered activated the ship's camouflage.

The creature's race was nomadic. They’ve evolved in a planet like the one it was in orbit, long time ago. From a group of mammal reptiles dwelling in a hot jungle, a parallel evolution developed a biped humanoid which soon developed a primitive civilization.

As soon as they became a spacefaring culture, some of they developed a "Return to nature" philosophy. The wiser and strong individuals who are to guide the clans must prove themselves by hunting dangerous prey. Just as primitive humans clan leaders hunted a Cave bear, an Uroch or a saber tooth tiger.

They hunted dangerous creatures all around their home world, and when they eventually discovered alien life in other planets, they hunted them.

Some centuries ago, one of the clan ships came across this green blue planet, so similar to their home. And what was their surprise when the planet was inhabited by humanoids which used fire and simple weapons. At last, a species which could match their own, but not yet.

As the inhabitants developed the use of metals, the Hunters noticed they’ve also developed war, and with War, warriors. These warriors could've a match in a young's rite of passage; so the Hunters came here every season for a young to be tested and became an adult.

Sometimes, the Prey had proven itself worthy and shown philosophies similar to the moral code of the Hunters, so they adapted those customs into their own. The Hunter remembers his own Rite of passage, long time ago in the volcanic Island arch where the creatures had developed a warrior culture and wooden buildings. Their weapons were sharp and deadly, but it was their philosophy, something called " _Bushido_ ".

The Hunter stalked his prey for a time, and finally revealed himself to the warrior. In a blade combat the Hunter had defeated his opponent, and the fallen Warrior had prayed something, stabbed himself with his own weapon and died.

Such a show of honor impressed the elders and adapted the custom for a defeated warrior. Each time a hunter was defeated by a worthy opponent, the warrior has to kill himself and or his comrades gave the victorious an offering, this being the fallen warrior weapon or a clan marking.

\- o -


	2. SHOOTING STAR

The Hunter's ship had been orbiting the planet for the last two days. Active cloaking avoided being detected by the inhabitant's rudimentary tracking devices. Also, as usual, the Hunter had been monitoring radio signals studying the planet looking for a suitable place and challenge. He had decided to hunt in a desert area near the place when once a great civilization stood.

He remembered those who built stone pyramids and fight with obsidian blades and cotton armor. These fierce warriors took the heads of sacrificed warriors and chosen people and display them in a place called _Tzompantli_ * in their language. It was similar to the Hunter's trophy case, made merely for the exhibition of skulls.

The Hunter wondered if the Humans, as they call themselves, still have the custom of close quarter combat and respect for the enemies. It checked radio transmissions and most of the audio and video shown an increasing violence in one of the cities located north of the country. A name was repeated: Pedro Quintana.

From video transmission from the planet the Hunter learned Pedro Quintana was powerful and his warriors used skulls masks and sometimes took off the head and body parts of their enemies. The Hunter was exited for such a prey, some powerful and feared warrior who also took trophies like the great leaders of his clan.

He pressed a button and part of a wall opened, inside was equipment for hunting: Armor, cannons, net guns, spears, discs and a collection of masks. He picked up his preferred and personalized weapons and boarded a landing pod.

The pod detached from the ship as it passed above the city and landed in a nearby hill in a ball of light.

\- o -

**Cd. Juarez, Mexico-United States border line.**

The desert air was surprisingly hot for this time of the year. Chihuahua desert was hot even on winter, and the city of Juarez in the US-Mexico border had extreme climate. Cold at night, then warm as sunrise, then rain, wind and dust and then cold again at sunset. But climate change has made the desert hotter and dryer every year.

That night, the city streets were deserted, the inhabitants preferred not to wander because since 2006, drug cartels have turned this border city into a battleground for which cartel controls the drug traffic into the US. On this war zone, one particular drug lord, Pedro Quintana, had rose into power, and was waging war with the Sinaloa and Juarez cartels. He and his group of _Sicarios_ , the so-called _Los Esqueletos_ had been terrorizing the area for the past three months.

A group of ten men of Quintana were patrolling one of the dirt roads in the outskirts of Cd. Juarez; the group also was extorting the inhabitants by kidnappings, robbery and protection racket. Quintana had ordered to make an example of some citizens whom hadn't pay. They were well armed: AK-47s, Berettas, machetes, even grenades, and all have their distinctive skeleton masks like those used in _Dia de Muertos_ , hence their name.

Aboard the leading truck, Cartel enforcer Miguel Quintana, Pedro's brother, was happy. He was the _Sicario_ 's leader and a particular brutal one. He was talking to his driver about past jobs.

-"Remember that fucker, Luis? He squealed like a pig when my brother skinned him. That happened when you get your hands on one of Pedro's mistresses**."

-"Yeah, you took some from the boss, the Boss take something from you. What about this guy? What he did, and most important, what are we doing him?" Luis, the driver, asked interested.

-"He didn't want to pay for my Brother's protection. He said why he had to pay us for protection if the only ones fucking with honest people are us? That shit bastard called us Bullies"

-"The guy must have big balls to say that, well I'll cut them off myself." Then he laughed loudly.

After a moment, Luis opened the window and the hot air penetrated the truck's cabin.

-" _Pinche calor_ , Is hotter than Hell." He complained

He stared at night sky; there was not a single cloud. The full moon illuminated the desert. Suddenly, a shooting star crossed the clear sky; it fell behind the hills producing a momentary flash.

-"Did you see that, _Cabrón_?" he exclaimed.

-"What was it?" Miguel asked.

-"A fucking shooting star, I think it hit the other side of the hill." Luis responded.

-"Then make a wish. Stop saying _mamadas_ and concentrate, Los _Guachos_ could ambush us any time."

\- o -

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N:  
> *Tzompantli was a temple or a wall where the Aztecs displayed skulls from enemies, sacrificed warriors, maidens and even children, for religious motives, respect or simply to induce terror on their enemies.  
> ** The dialog between the Cartel and other humans is intended to be translated from Spanish as the story is located in Mexico.


	3. NIGHTSTALKER

**Cd. Juárez, midnight.**

The hunter look his surroundings, he was at the city outskirts. Pale white lights indicate the outer suburbs, inhabited mostly by factory workers and their families. It was one of the poorer parts of Cd. Juarez. Tonight, there was full moon so it wasn’t pitch black.

Complete darkness never was a problem for the hunter species. Their home world orbited a red giant star which emitted a lot of infrared radiation, lot of heat but little light, so the creatures living there developed infrared vision. Of course the hunter can see normal spectrum, he had eyes like those of ours, but as the same as snakes, infrared signature superimposed to normal vision, and his mask filtered some of the ambient heat, making prey tracking easier.

Little red spots indicated the hunter there was little nocturnal fauna around, rats and a rattle snake he avoided, these aren’t his prey tonight. He was after Pedro Quintana, the most feared man would make a nice add to his skull collection, and maybe he could take the skin of some of his men and sell them. Like any other hunters, the creatures sold skins for making part of their attire: belts, bags, ceremonial knife sheaths, loincloths, etc.

One of the Hunter’s favorite loincloths was one made with the skin of a Warrior from the tropical islands far west. The warriors on that tribe used tattoo art that was full of distinctive signs to express their identity and personality. Tattoos would indicate status in a hierarchical society as well as sexual maturity, genealogy and ones rank within the society.

This warrior had a magnificent image of a Tiki god and a pattern of spears, symbolizing he was a warrior and became a demi-god after death, and now, exhibited on the Hunter’s lower torso, would symbolize the spirit of the warrior would became part of the Hunter’s life energy.

The sound of detonations reached the ears of the hunter, taking it out of his thoughts, who immediately sprinted to the place where a possible battle was taking place. He didn’t want to claim trophies immediately, that was a mistake some young did. Eager for glory, they revealed themselves too soon and some had paid the price; an experienced hunter first watched, evaluating strengths and weaknesses, looking for the best way to taunt and defeat the enemy.

He reached the houses at the edge of the settlement, although he was using active camouflage, one or two dogs detected his smell and barked nervous. The hunter ignored them as the beasts couldn’t reach him, jumping on the houses’ roofs. When he reached the place where the shooting originated, he watched the scene, recording everything with his mask.

\- o –

Miguel Quintana and Luis Ortega descended from the truck, with his AK’s in hand. The other _sicarios_ jumped from the back and fired a few rounds to the sky, announcing they were in the area. It was a common practice, as police force was outgunned and unable to maintain order, these criminals roamed free on the streets. The terrified citizens could do nothing but cover themselves in their houses.

-“There! That’s the house. Get me that fucker and his family too” Miguel ordered.

The _Sicarios_ obeyed, they knocked the door and entered the house. Screams were heard as two men dragged another out of the house while the third pointed his assault rifle towards the house.

-“Let them alone! You fucking animals” the man cried.

-“ _Callate_! We’ll do what we want” Miguel said, and hit the man with the rifle’s grip, the others kicked him.

The man’s family observed terrified, they didn’t move, Quintana’s men thrown the man in the truck. Before they go, one of them shouted.

-“If you call the police you didn’t get your husband’s remains for a proper burial”

-“Bastards!” the woman cried.

-“And you better get the money next time we came or I’ll kill your children or worse” Quintana said.

On the roof, the Hunter prepared to follow the vehicle. The Hunter wondered why these humans threatened females and children, on his society, warriors and hunters never killed or hurt defenseless creatures. Those acts of senseless violence were dishonor, which on his culture, was worse than death. The offender was targeted and hunted himself. The Hunter cursed on his language, a series of clicks made by his four mobile mandibles.

-“ _Que chingados fue eso_?” Luis Ortega exclaimed when he heard the Hunter’s clicking, not so far above him.

-“A cricket?” Miguel responded.

-“No, it sounded more like a rattlesnake, came from over there” Luis said, pointing the roof.

-“There are no snakes here”

-“I feel like someone is watching us, Miguel.” Luis continued “Remember I always feel that when an ambush is about to happen”

-“Stop smoking that shit, it’s making you fucking paranoic.” Miguel scolded him “My brother’s first rule, _No pruebas tu propia mierda_ _o esa mierda va a matarte_ ” Miguel walked towards the vehicle and climbed into the cabin. Luis followed him and then they left the area.

\- o –

The Hunter jumped once more over the roofs, trying not to being detected as he followed the truck, thanks to the species stamina; he was able to keep pace with the vehicle for a few kilometers, until they reached a warehouse. The Hunter observed the inside from the large windows.


	4. HELENA DUEL

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Hunter followed the Sicarios to their hideout in an abandoned warehouse. There, he learns the truth about the ways of the Drug cartels enforcers.

**Abandoned warehouse, Los Esqueletos' safe house, midnight**

 

The Hunter jumped once more over the roofs, trying not to being detected as he followed the truck, thanks to the species stamina; he was able to keep pace with the vehicle for a few kilometers, until they reached a warehouse near the border line.

The truck stopped and the men entered the building, dragging the man from before, visible hurt. The Hunter observed from the large windows at the roof. The  _Sicarios_  They stripped the man of his clothes and tied up the man to a chair and continued beating him.

-"See, this is why you need protection. This is what happens when you refuse to pay for it, bad things happen" Luis Ortega said calmly while hitting his face with the butt of the rifle. The man spited two teeth.

-" _Son unas malditas bestias_ " the man said. Luis Ortega pulled out his knife and put it on the man's throat.

-"Hey, you better don't kill him. I want to have some fun too." Miguel Quintana intervened, and then rose the man's fallen face "What you say? You think we are beasts? Well, let's see if you can take a fight man to man. Let's get a good old Helena duel"

The two other  _Sicarios_  cut the ropes and grab the man. Miguel Quintana dropped his rifle and pulled a knife and tossed up to the man, the naked man, he bent to grab it but at that moment Ortega stepped on his hand so hard that he broke his fingers. The man cried and the knife fell from his hand.

-"See, you can't even grab a knife. How did you expect to fight a real man like me? Eh?" Miguel boasted. The other laughed.

The  _Sicarios_  tied up Miguel's and man's arms together and formed a circle around them. A Helena duel was made this way, two guys with their hands tied up and fighting with knives until one bleeds out. Miguel let the man strike first, but he was weakened by the beating and his broken hand. They circled each other and then the man managed to strike Miguel right on the abdomen. The knife bounced and fell.

-" _Miren a este debilucho, ni siquiera puede enterrar un cuchillo_ " Miguel laughed, the bastard was using a bulletproof vest beneath his jacket.

Now, Quintana Miguel threw lunges with the knife, severely cutting the naked man. The others applauded. Bleeding, the man prayed.

-" _Hijo, perdóname. Espero que crezcas y seas un gran hombre_ " Finally, the man collapsed and died, Miguel cut the rope and let out a victory cry.

-"No one fucks with the Quintana brothers, let everyone know that my Brother is the fucking boss around here, and those who do not pay for their protection will follow this poor bastard to the grave or worse." He ordered and his  _Sicarios_  left the place; he took off his blood stained shirt.

On the roof, the Hunter cocked his head. He didn't understand why these supposed warriors tortured their prey, most of all when he was unarmed. Teasing a prey was an essential part of the hunt, a pissed off enemy, properly motivated by revenge fought in a formidable way, but the provocation was always carried out in a structured and ritualistic way. These humans were savages, almost animalistic, targeting innocent people and hurting their prey, No, that wasn't the way of a  _Ksathrya_ , nor was the way of  _Bushido_  the ancient warrior of his youth demonstrated. That was the way of a vicious predator.

That was enough for the Hunter, no more assessment. He targeted Miguel Quintana as his next kill; if he was the sibling of Pedro Quintana, the intended target, killing Miguel would tease him and force him to show, and then he will be part of the Hunter's trophy case.

Clearly, the human below him wasn't a warrior, he was more of a predatory beast; vicious and without conscience. Hunting non-sentient beasts was different than battling warriors; first of all, animals flee when they were outmatched, so in order to force it to fight you must corner it or threatening its offspring without killing them. Second, in a match, a non-sentient predator fight to kill, it doesn't mind if you're armed or not. There's no honor code, it's a fight for survival, you never turn your back on a beast that wasn't dead or it would be the last thing you did.

First, he needs to isolate him from the rest. Using his mask, the Hunter tracked the other heat signals. Two men stood outside the warehouse, guarding. The one called Luis and another were at the far end, pulling some kind of a barrel marked with warnings stickers.

-" _Ayúdame, hay que disolver a este tipo_ " Luis told the man next to him.

They were about to dispose the man's body in a barrel of acid, a common practice for  _Sicarios_. Overhead, the Hunter climbed on the steel beams of the warehouse, and readied his equipment. He wanted to kill stealthily the guards because the moment the alarm sounds, Miguel Quintana will flee. Luis Ortega and the other  _sicario_  dragged the body, but before they could put it on the barrel, the Hunter dropped from the ceiling just between the two killers.

\- o -

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Finally I finished this short chapter. It was difficult because depicting violence is not my kind of thing, I softened a little, real events could be worst, but here you had the idea what kind of behaviour these criminals have, and makes our favorite hunter more sympathetic. Enjoy and don't forget to comment.
> 
> Translation:
> 
> Son unas malditas bestias: You're Fucking beasts!  
> Sicario: Coloquial name for a drug cartel hitman.  
> "Miren a este debilucho, ni siquiera puede enterrar un cuchillo": Look at this weakling, he can't even stab a knife.  
> "Hijo, perdóname. Espero que crezcas y seas un gran hombre": Forgive me son, I hope you grow to be a great man.  
> Ksathrya: A warrior caste in ancient India.  
> Bushido: Way of the Warrior, Samurai honor code.


	5. EL DIABLO VINO POR ELLOS

**Abandoned warehouse, Los Esqueletos' safe house, midnight**

 

-" _Como pesa este cabrón_ " Luis Ortega and the other man were battling with the corpse.

-"let's finish this and then we can get  _cervezas_ , there are two  _morritas_  waiting for us" the  _sicario_  told him.

-"You only think in  _morras_ –" Luis Ortega scolded him, but then he shut up midsentence "Shhh, What is that?"

-"What's that what?" The  _sicario_  asked back, but then he heard it too, immediately put himself alert.

Luis Ortega always was paranoid, in his life as criminal he had made a lot of enemies, which was the reason he was cautious, never stuck in a routine, never turning his back on anyone for more than a minute. Those abilities had allowed him to remain alive where others had failed: ambushes, betrayals, assassination attempts…

-"Where is it, Luis?" the other man was nervous, both were pointing their weapons to the warehouse windows, near the roof.

Luis Ortega noticed three red dots in the  _Sicario_ 's head, he was about to warn him when a blueish bolt of plasma blew it up in a cloud of pink vapor, the lifeless body fell to the ground twitching.

-"Where are you, fucker?  _Sal de ahí cabrón_ " Ortega shouted, he was sure now a sniper was sent to kill them. " _Sal de ahí gringo_ "

For sure, the assassin was American, FBI, DEA, Marine, he didn't know. It was impossible a Mexican sniper was sent; the cartel controlled most of the police and a few generals in the Army.

The criminal never imagined there was no soldier not even a human who was chasing him, the air next to the body sizzled in a myriad of blue sparks and a 7' body materialized. Ortega noticed the bulky, tall body, its green-yellowish skin covered in a mesh and a loincloth made of tattooed skin. On the upper torso, the giant humanoid –because at this point Ortega knew it wasn't human –wore a metal chest and shoulder plates, on the right shoulder, a pistol like weapon still glowed red from the shot, and over the face a metallic mask with strange markings. Not taking any chances, Ortega fired his AK-47 at the creature.

-"You want a piece of me?" said as he fired.

\- o -

The Hunter was agile; he leapt with his powerful legs and evaded the barrage. The targeting system on his mask located the weapon, marked it with the triple laser sight and fired a low burst from the plasma caster. The assault rifle fell from the Sicario's hand, partially melted. Ortega screamed as his right hand was slightly burned.

The Hunter didn't like to kill with the plasma caster; he only used it to neutralize major threats as the armor piercing assault rifle. He approached Ortega slowly, but Ortega wasn't unarmed yet, he pulled a jeweled, gold coated pistol from the holster and fired a nine millimeter round directly on the Hunter's chest, green phosphorescent blood spilled the warehouse floor, the Hunter roared in rage.

The Hunter pulled a metal bar from the pack on his back. By pressing a button, the bar extended both edges to form a spear, he throw it at Sicario and impaled him on the hand to make him drop the pistol. Ortega backed off as the Hunter approached; the round from the pistol had no effect on him except making him angry.

Finally, the Hunter came to where Ortega was and raised the man on the ground and then, Ortega made his final move, a sharp knife hidden on his boot pierced the right side of the Hunter, but the blade penetrated only three centimeters.

-" _Miren a este debilucho, ni siquiera puede enterrar un cuchillo_ " The Hunter said, mimicking Miguel Quintana's voice, and then added with Ortega's own voice "let's finish this and then we can get  _cervezas_ ,"

The Hunter impaled Ortega with a pair of serrated blades on his wrist bracelets, those were the weapon of choice for the Hunter race during hand to hand combat, the origin of that tradition was long lost, but the Hunter suspected it specifically designed to collect trophies.

Properly used by a skilled hunter, the blades pierced each side of the spine of the victim, and then with a vertical upward movement, the blades would separate the ribs from the column, facilitating the tearing of the head with the spine intact, a skill that took time to learn. The Hunter did this with the mastery that only hundreds of successful hunts could give.

The hunter threw a victory roar while Ortega's head and spine dangled on his hand. The celebration was interrupted as Miguel Quintana and a group of armed men arrived, after hearing the gunshots. Quintana saw his friend's headless body covered in blood and the monster holding its macabre trophy.

-" _See, this is why you need protection… bad things happen_ " The Hunter teased his future prey with Luis Ortega's voice.

-"Who the hell are you?" Miguel asked. He wanted to know who was the monster who will pay for his friend's death.

The Hunter pulled his mask off, showing a fiery face of yellow eyes inside swollen orbits and four fanged mandibles surrounding a small mouth also filled with sharp teeth. He roared and the men retroceded, repulsed and scared.

Before the criminals could react, the Hunter put back his mask, activated the optic camouflage and jumped back to the roof.

\- o –


	6. DEMON

**Sundland, Texas. Pedro Quintana's Finca, just across the border of Cd. Juárez.**

-"Can you explain me, brother. How can a fucking assassin killed Luis in front of you all assholes and got away unscathed?" Pedro Quintana was furious, if the man in front of him wasn't his own brother, the  _Sicario_  would already shoot him on the balls for the failure.

-"I… I told you, Pedro.  _Fue el Diablo_ " Miguel responded.

-"That's bullshit! There's only one Devil and it's me!" Pedro slammed a fist on the table, his wife let out a little scream. "Why did you insist with that Miguel? Are you stoned?"

-"No, Pedro. I told you, we heard gunshots on the warehouse, by the time we arrive it had already killed  _Lupe_ *, and tore off Luis' head. Then the fucker took off his mask and… It… it was ugly as sin and spoke to us with Luis' voice. The devil consumed his soul." Miguel was really scared. Pedro always though nothing could ever scare his brother.

-"I'm a devout man Miguel, you'd know, every day I entrust myself to god and Malverde*" He signaled a little altar where a bust of a mustached man dressed in white shirt and hat stands. "I do that so neither the police nor Death takes me to Hell before my time. Listen, Brother, I'll only ask you something now, find that fucker and bring him to me. Either I'll kill him or hire him."

-"Yes, Brother" Was Miguel's only answer.

Miguel walked to the Finca's garage and boarded the armored SUV waiting for him. He still didn't know how to find the Demon, but reassured the best course of action was to get back to the warehouse and if the Devil wants him he'll be waiting.

The SUV skidded around the dirt road leading to the warehouse; Miguel rushed inside assault rifle on hand. For the last five minutes he tried to contact the rest of his men inside, with no response. The first thing he saw was blood, all over the floor, not just where Luis and Lupe's bodies had fallen, but the entire place. He felt something wet fell on his forehead and touched it, it was blood, so he turned up and crossed himself.

-" _¡Madre de dios!_ " He exclaimed.

Hanging from the steel beams of the warehouse were the flayed bodies of his men, tied from the feet and their arms swinging macabrely by the wind that came in through the broken windows.

-"What happened here?" one of the sicarios sent by Pedro asked.

-"It came back while I was with my brother." Miguel said, and then ordered "You, two! Find him; it should not be far away"

-"What we do if we find him?" the other man asked.

-"I don't know, _invitale una cerveza_ " Miguel responded with disdain "You shoot him! But let him alive, the bastard is mine!"

The fact was Miguel was scared. In the time the cartel had been operating, no rival group had been able to defeat his men and now, a monster; a creature singlehandedly had massacred ten of his best enforcers. " _Fear is for the weak_ " Miguel thought, Devil or not he was determined to avenge his friend.

\- o –

Over one of the steel beams which supported the structure, the Hunter observed the armed men. After he had taunted Miguel Quintana by killing his friend and having taken his trophy, the Hunter had return to the desert and activated the remote control of his ship. The sleek spacecraft landed and the Hunter put Ortega's skull, properly polished on the case.

Upon returning to the warehouse, the place was crawling with armed men but Miguel wasn't there. The Hunter then killed the guards and took their skins to sold them back in the nearest outpost and in doing so, enraging further Quintana, in preparation for the final confrontation.

-" _¿Crees en el Diablo, José?_ " Juanito*, one of the two bodyguards asked to the other.

-"No Juanito, it doesn't exist, there's only one of those fucking  _gringos_  with state of the art weaponry, sent to kill the Boss"

-"You should. My father always told me the Devil existed and from time to time, he would walk the earth taking the souls of men." Juanito told him "He told me when the Devil came; it's always hot, because the devil drags with him the heat of Hell. And these days are hotter than shit."

-"No offense, but he was only trying to scare you Pal."

-"He disappeared in the jungle; he was with a guerrilla in Valverde. That year was very hot." Juanito continued "He never came back, and my mother brought me here looking to enter the United States."

-"Jungle mumbo jumbo, Juanito" José scolded him "now shut up and keep looking or you'll really know the Devil himself. The Boss doesn't accept failure."

Above them, the Hunter clicked his mandibles in an inquisitive way. The humans below keep repeating one word: " _Diablo_ ", accessing the language deconstruction program inside the mask CPU, the Hunter learned that the word referring to him was Devil, the personification of evil. This bothered the Hunter a little, since throughout their history hunting humans they always had a word to define his kind and it was always associated with evil: Devil,  _Adilgashi_ ,  _Wendigo_ ,  _Rakshasa_ ,  _Oni_ ,  _Humbaba_ , etc. Although one of the words sounded similar to the ancient name of his people, possibly given to them by one of the first hunters, the humans always ended up misspelling because they lacked mobile jaws and could not pronounce certain sounds of the language of hunters.

\- o -

-" _Oíste eso?_ " Juanito said after he had heard a strange clicking sound.

-" _Arriba_ " José responded and both they turned up. On the beam, there was nothing, they only saw the air ripple due to the heat; José was about to say that it has a vaguely human form when two green flashes shined where the eyes should have been. " _Ahí esta! Dispara_ "

Both guy fired their weapons but the Hunter evaded them using the steel beams as covers, the gunshots attracted Miguel Quintana and the rest of them. The Hunter assessed the situation and decided he would use his disc weapon called the  _Chakra_ , it was an ancestral weapon whose origins had vanished from memory, the disc was guided toward its objective by the mask's computer, flying and cutting through multiple targets and then returning to the owner.

Through his mask's HUD the Hunter marked those whose represented major threat, namely assault rifles, sparing –for the moment –those with pistols and low caliber machineguns and Quintana himself, the trophy.

The Hunter jumped into a catwalk at the far end of the warehouse, from where it will be easier to throw the  _Chakra_ ; he landed with a metallic thump and immediately was hailed by gunshots. He threw the disc weapon which flew elegantly towards the nearest man, cut him clean on the abdomen and continued flying towards the next one, who was decapitated instantly before the disc returned to the Hunter. Two of the armed men took cover behind a pile of metal barrels, but the disc cut through metal and flesh alike.

-" _¡Disparen!_ " Miguel cried loudly, he was losing his patience

-" _You want a piece of me?_ " The Hunter taunted him with Ortega's voice, and then threw his disc one last time at the remaining guy with an AK-47.

-"We can't kill the Devil, Miguel!" Juanito screamed, he dropped his gun and ran, totally scared.

-"Don't run,  _Puto_!*" Quintana shoot Juanito as he reached the door, the man fell with a bullet on his back.

Miguel was satisfied with the killing of the traitor, but the joy didn't last as the Hunter jumped from the catwalk right beside him. The Hunter raised Quintana by the neck with one hand and examined him, it wasn't hurt. He pushed him aside and then mimicked Miguel's voice " _I want to have some fun… Let's get a good old Helena duel_ "

\- o -

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Welcome back, thanks for reading this short story, it's almost coming to an end, but for now here there are some spanish words you'd probably don't know:  
> Lupe: Short name for Guadalupe, a name used both for females and males alike.  
> Malverde: Jesus Malverde was a mexican bandit from Sinaloa which the drug lords and Sicarios worship as saint, making offerings to his bust on a shrine.  
> Juanito: Mexican common name for "Little John"  
> See you next chapter with the duel between Quintana and the Hunter, don't forget to comment.


	7. THE DUEL

**Cd. Juarez, Angeles hospital, hours later.**

 

-"So, tell us  _Juanito_. What happened there?" The guy interrogating him was American but he doesn't look like a DEA agent or the FBI. The guy had the looks of a spy, the stereotyped creepy looking, who likes to smoke in a hospital.

-" _Yo no hablo con gringos_ " he responded.

-"Of course you will. You are the only witness of what happened in that warehouse, and you know we are the only ones who are gone to believe you about that. The  _Federales_  believe you're crazy and your boss, Quintana, will kill you because his brother is dead." The man explained, his voice was calm and cold like the hiss of a snake.

-"And what do I get?" Juanito considered, the guy in front of him was right. Quintana surely will kill him not because he had fled, but he didn't manage to protect his brother from the 'Devil'

-"We can put you in protection custody, out of Quintana's hands" The spy offered.

-"Oh right. I'll tell you everything." Juanito first hesitated but then he agreed and related what he had seen.

\- o –

-" _Don't run, Puto!_ " Miguel Quintana shouted as he shoots Juanito on his back

He fell to the floor apparently dead, but he wasn't, the bullet passed through his Right lung and it was difficult for him to breathe, he lay on his stomach and watched as the Devil came down and lifted Miguel by the neck.

-"Aahhhggg" Miguel Quintana growled and screamed as he tried to get out from the Hunter's grip.

The Hunter threw him aside as a rag doll, and then tossed away his shoulder plate and plasma cannon, and then he did the same with the left shoulder and front plates.

-"I think I will keep this, monster" Miguel tapped into his bulletproof vest.

The Hunter raised his arm and a blue plasma flechette shot out of his bracelet, hitting Miguel's vest. The ardor made him shed the garment. " _Cuchillo_ " The Hunter instructed the Sicario to pick up his knife as he pulled out a ceremonial dagger made from a shiny, stainless metal with carvings on the blade.

-" _Okey Monstruo, tu juego tus reglas._ " Miguel agreed, but then added "Show me your face. I want to see the Devil in the eyes."

The Hunter complied, disconnected the tubes that kept the mask with the exact mixture of gases from the atmosphere of his home planet, the gas was released with a hiss. The creature pulled out his mask, showing Miguel his face, a pair of yellow, swollen eyes in a green yellowish face and four mandibles, each one ending in a sharp fang.

The creature had no facial hair instead, tiny quills for eyebrows, and rubbery, long dreadlock-like protuberances as hair. The Hunter opened extended his arms and mandibles in a defiant pose and roared. Miguel took the knife from the floor and held on his extended arm, this wasn't the right thing for an experienced fighter, the Hunter realized the Human in front of him didn't know the basics on hand to hand combat. The hunter let Miguel made the first move.

-"I'm gonna cut your dick off and put it on that pussy you had for mouth" Miguel said as he circled the Hunter. He launched the first blow, which was easily evaded by the hunter.

Miguel tried to reach the creature two, three more times, but his sweep technique didn't seem to work. He was furious because he had become accustomed to having his adversaries handcuffed, wounded and within reach of his knife.

-" _Ni siquiera puede enterrar un cuchillo_ " The Hunter taunted him, he was a bit disappointing because he hoped for the leader to be good fighter, even if he was a vicious killer his techniques shouldn't be those of a rookie.

-"C'mon fucker.  _Muéstrame lo que tienes_ " Miguel was angry; he threw himself forward with the intention of stabbing the monster in the abdomen, it was a bad decision.

The Hunter grabbed Miguel arm with his left hand, and then used the blades on his right bracelet to wound the man's abdomen, just a lacerating cut, making man reconsider his poor strategy. But before Miguel retreated arced his arm up and wounded the hunter in one of the jaws. The hunter gave a grunt of pain as phosphorescent green blood sprayed the floor and threw Miguel aside.

-"You liked, Monster?" Miguel asked. "Those aren't the only things I'm gonna cut you off"

-" _Can't kill the Devil, Miguel!_ " the Hunter responded, imitating Juanito's voice. Miguel realized the Hunter wasn't furious, instead he seemed almost pleased.

He wasn't far from the truth. After he had killed ten of his men and his friend Ortega, none of the men had hurt him seriously, which was disappointing. In the Hunter's culture, wounds are revered, it was common the Hunters returned with wounds and even lost limbs, which they exhibited with pride.

Wounds showed that a prey was indeed dangerous but that even so the hunter was better, having survived the encounter. There were a few cases in which a hunter falsified a wound to give himself prestige, but if he or she was discovered, would face dishonorable execution or, at best instance, exile.

Miguel's move had taken him by surprise, but it'll not happen again. With a roar, the Hunter attacked. Punched the man one, two, three times, taking care not to cut him further with the blades or striking a blow that could break his skull, leaving it useless as a trophy.

-" _¿Que chingados eres?_ " Miguel shouted.

He grabbed him by the neck and lifted him off the floor, preparing for the final blow. But in honor of the wound granted, he would let him know the name of his people, not in the native language of the creature, composed of clicks and guttural growls, but in sounds more adequate for the mouths of the humans.

-" _Yakṣa_ *" The Hunter said.

Miguel spat on the Hunter's face, enraging him. The Hunter then ripped Miguel's head off along with the spine, according to the costume, letting out a triumphant roar.

With a cord from his shoulder pack, the Hunter hung Miguel's body from one of the roof catwalks and using the ceremonial dagger, he removed the skin carefully, admiring the tattoos depicting skeletons. They will be a nice addition to the Hunter's collection.

He pulled his mask on and looked around; the heat of the bodies began to dissipate since they had been dead for several hours, except one, that of Miguel's henchman, Juanito, who still flashed in yellow and red colors. He was alive, the Hunter turned his body, Juanito was terrified, he had seen what the monster did to Miguel and he thought he would be next.

-" _My brother_ " The Hunter used Miguel's voice " _Find him; it should not be far away_ "

The Hunter then jumped over the catwalk above and disappeared, and Juanito heard the sirens of police cars approaching before he fell unconscious.

\- o –

-"So, this ' _yautja_ ' is after Pedro Quintana?" The agent asked Juanito, after he finished the story.

-"Yes, I think that, Sir." Juanito responded "He wasn't interested on me"

-"Mmmm. Ok I'm finished here." The agent said to the nurse who was changing meds on Juanito's IV line.

-"But… you said, you said you were to help me, put me into custody." Juanito begged.

-"Actually, I didn't and I didn't sign anything. Besides, I have a bigger fish to catch." The agent said, and before he left the room, he added "Oh, and don't forget to warn your boss about this ' _Yautja_ '"

\- o -

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello readers, here's the new chapter in this story. Miguel is dead and now Juanito had to tell his brother Pedro he's the next in the Hunter's trophy list. Oh and a little clarification, I know the word Yautja is the canonical name of the Predators, but is not my favorite, I'd like to refer to them as the Raksasa from the Hindu myth due to similarities in the description and habits. Yautja is similar to the sanskrit word Yaksa, which also is very, very close to the predators. Here I made the agent misspell the name Yaksa into Yautja, in the same way that Gojira became Godzilla.
> 
> *Yakṣa (यक्ष): is a Sanskrit word which means "speedy" (jie yi). It also means "courageous and strong" (yong jian).—In Vedic hinduism represent a group of mysterious beings, and are often associated with Rākṣasas. In many stories, they harass mortals, chiefly by enchanting forests, haunting the wilderness and waylays, killing any human who ventures near them and devours travelers, similar to the rākṣasa. They are not immortal, but they are very long lived and possess magical powers (Maya), although they can be defeated by men without magic.
> 
> Rākṣasa (राक्षस) were most often depicted as ugly, fierce-looking and enormous creatures, with two fangs protruding from the top of the mouth and having sharp, claw-like fingernails. They are shown as being mean, growling like beasts, and as insatiable cannibals that could smell the scent of human flesh. Some of the more ferocious ones were shown with flaming red eyes and hair, drinking blood with their palms or from a human skull. Generally they could fly, vanish, and had Maya (magical powers of illusion)


	8. ILLEGAL ALIEN

**CHAPTER 8: ILLEGAL ALIEN**

**Pedro Quintana's Villa, Sundland Park, New Mexico.**

 

It was not long before Pedro Quintana's men took Juanito out of the hospital by force; ten armed men threatened the scant medical center's security of the, firing warning shots and taking the only survivor of the warehouse massacre. After picking up the poor bastard, they boarded two armored SUV's and headed for the desert. There, they crossed the border via a hidden tunnel used for smuggling drugs and weapons and took the highway towards the Villa in the residential zone in New Mexico.

Unknown to them, someone was on the follow. The Hunter had put a tracker in Juanito before the police took him away, guessing he'll lead him to Quintana, whom surely will interrogate the wounded man about his brother's demise. But the hunter didn't waste energy pursuing them through all the city and desert; he had things to do before. He returned to his ship with the intention of preparing his recently acquired trophy.

First, he used the ceremonial razor to cut and detach the skin from the skull, and then with a tool similar to a vacuum cleaner, he extracted the brain matter from the cavity. Preservation demanded the bone be completely clean to apply the resin, a poly-carbonated compound whose mission was to avoid deterioration of bone carbon and phosphorus as well as cartilaginous fibers in case of other parts of the skeleton.

Once the process was finished, he polished Miguel's skull and place it on the trophy case, and his skin in a frame for its preparation.

As the next hunt will be the real prize, the Hunter chose his attire carefully; he let his standard equipment and took his ornamental and ceremonial weapons and armor. First, the marked mask which identified as a true hunter, with the symbol क्षत्रबन्धु carved on its forehead which in an ancient language meant member of the  _Ksathriya_  or warrior caste. He admired the symbol, touching him with his fingers from right to left and remembering the day he won the right to carve it on his mask. Afterwards, took a small laser and engraved another symbol भग्नदंष्ट्र (Having the fangs broken) in honor to the wound received.

For weapons he kept his disc Chakra for long range weapon, and a double spear whose bladed points were made from the tails of a creature named  _Aquabramelu_ *, It was given to him by his father, and he received it from his grandfather and so on. For protection, he used only the mesh and a shoulder plate where the power supply for his mask was. And last, he took the wrist bracelet which contained the computer and the self-destruct system just in case he was defeated and need to negate his technology to the enemy. It also contained the standard blades for hand to hand combat. Once ready, he left the ship and headed directly towards the border, and beyond, Pedro Quintana's hideout.

\- o –

Border patrol agents Robert Davis and Frank García patrolled the dirt road along the railroad next to the border, beyond was one of the poorest neighborhoods in Ciudad Juarez. Not so often, this area was the place where some illegal immigrants crossed into the United States, this was the reason the border patrol sent the drones and the most experienced agents in the hot desert.

-"I 'm bored, Frank. Nothing happens here." Robert complained "Keeping America safe from aliens is the most unexciting job."

-"Job is a job, Bob. You want to fire a weapon while protecting your country? Would you rather be on Middle East hunting terrorists?" García replied.

-"Hell no, I'd like my head right where it is" Robert responded, touching his head with a finger.

-"Then, stop complaining and keep your eyes open." García told him, staring outside, towards the long fence that separated both countries. Then the radio crackled.

-" _Border patrol unit Alpha-Kilo-two-four-niner this is CBP control, over._ " A Customs and Border Protection officer was calling them.

-"Roger, CBP control, this is Alpha-Kilo-two-four-niner, what's the situation?" Bob called back.

-" _We have a boogie in your zone, one of the drones picked up a heat signature. It's moving_ "

-"Maybe it's just a coyote" Bob Davis said to García "Those  _polleros_ * never cross this way alone."

-"CBP, what's the target's direction?" Bob asked, "I can't see him"

The officer in the control room watching through the drone's infrared cameras followed the red and yellow signature over the blues, purples and black backgrounds. She typed a few commands and the tiny aircraft's cameras zoomed into the figure. It had a slightly humanoid form, which discarded any fauna roaming the area.

-" _Target is moving directly towards you at an average speed of… oh my god; speed is… 25 miles per hour!_ " She exclaimed

-"Are you joking? No  _beaner_ * run that fast" Bob replied.

-" _Told you, it's running at top speed and jumped the fence like a steroid filled deer. That guy must be a relative of Usain Bolt_ "

Bob laughed, it was hard for him to imagine a guy running and then crossing a two-meter fence in one jump.

-" _Wait! He stopped, about two hundred yards south your location_ " The CBP officer warned. " _Maybe he'd spotted you, proceed with caution_ "

Frank García took his binoculars and peered through the windshield, trying to spot the target in the dim moonlight. Nothing, no movement in the bushes, even the wind stopped blowing. Something appeared on the lenses, a distortion like the air waves generated by the heat.

-"Nothing, fucking heat man, even in the night the desert is hot." exclaimed, he was sweating too.

-"What is happening? What's he doing?" Bob asked again.

-" _He's standing there, it seems he hesitated._ " The officer responded. " _He's pulling out something…_ "

-"Well, I don't see a shit."

Suddenly, above them, there was a flash. An explosion of blue sparks and yellow flames, then the charred structure of the vigilance drone fell right in front of the truck.

-"What the hell?!" both officers exclaimed.

-" _I lost it!_ " the CBP agent responded, distressed " _the drone's camera feed suddenly went dark and controls don't respond!_ "

-"That's because it's here, burning on the ground. Something had downed it" Bob said but he hadn't seen muzzle flash or heard a shot.

-" _If he had shot down our drone, be careful, he's probably armed_ " the agent on radio advised.

Before the Officer could do anything something crashed on the vehicle's capo and jumped away from them, only to disappear in the night, towards Sundland. Bob and Frank came out of the vehicle and observed the dent on the hood, which strangely had the shape of a human foot with a claw at the end of each finger.

\- o –

The Hunter resumed his chase; he had stopped momentarily to destroy a tiny survey aircraft which had been following him. The computer on his wrist had alerted him and then he used the disc to dispose of the artifact. Once destroyed, he jumped onto the vehicle of the two humans which surely were sent there by the tiny drone.

There was no need on killing them, a more valuable price awaited him, and the tracker he put on the wounded man back at the warehouse had stopped in one of the properties ahead, the one with high walls, well, at least high enough for humans, but not for the experienced  _Yaksa_.

The first houses appeared and the Hunter jumped from roof to roof until he arrived at a road and climbed atop a cellphone tower, from there, he had a good view of the objective.

\- o –

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Glosary
> 
> Ksathriya: Warrior caste, expert in all kinds of weapons.  
> Aqrabuamelu: Scorpion man, kind of humanoid demon with scorpion tail and lion feet. Created by Akkadian godess Tiamat as an army.  
> Pollero: Mexican slang for human trafficker, those who help illegal immigrants croos into the USA for a very high price.  
> Beaner: Derogative slang for mexican and other Latin american people, named for the beans common in Mexican cuisine.


	9. VENDETTA

**CHAPTER 9: VENDETTA**

**Pedro Quintana's Villa. Sundland Park, New Mexico.**

 

-"Who was the fucker who killed my brother?" Pedro Quintana hit Juanito in the face as he asked.

-"I told you, Boss" He replied "The devil took him"

-"Who is this devil? Which cartel is he from? Sinaloa, Juarez, those motherfuckers from south who are trying to get into my territory?" Quintana insisted, giving more punches at the already bloody face of the henchman.

-"I don't think he is from any cartel" Juanito responded.

-"A vigilante then?" he had heard stories about a single old man taking down cartel members in the Mexico-US border.

-"No! I told you it was some kind of monster. It has to be the Devil, because he spoke to me with Miguel's voice" Juanito remembered "The Devil had consumed his soul as it had done with Luis"

-"Listen you little shit, I'm done with you el diablo cazador de hombres bullshit, the real Devil are out there and is called DEA, not some superstition from the jungle" Quintana was furious "Now, how I am going to tell my mother little Miguel was killed by a monster and she can't see his body because the fucker had skinned him!?" Quintana punched him once more.

-"You will see, Boss. The Devil said:  _My brother. Find him; it should not be far away_ " Juanito repeated the Hunter's words before he had fainted back at the warehouse. "I think he's coming for you"

Quintana took his jeweled pistol and aimed it at Juanito. "For your sake I hope you haven't let go of your tongue, Juanito, you  _Sapo bastardo*_ "

-"No! I don't…!" He never finished the sentence. Quintana shot him on the head, then he turned to his bodyguards "Reinforce security. We'll gonna have a visitor soon"

\- o -

The Quintana brothers grew in Sinaloa part of the Sierra Madre, their father was a hunter and often took Pedro and Miguel on his hunting trips and taught them how to kill and skin an animal, also the tradition of eating the heart of the first animal he had hunted.

He started his criminal career as a mule for the Sinaloa cartel, smuggling cocaine and meth into the United States and later, he was sent to Los Angeles to negotiate a deal with Ramón Vega and his Colombian cartel in 1997.

The cartel's liaison with the Colombian mafia in Los Angeles back then, Esteban Pereira was Quintana's main competitor and the later had accepted the mission with the sole intention of killing the former, thus taking control of the territory for the Mexican cartel. But Pereira died that summer during the massacre in the Alvarado precinct. Pereira was found dead in a building on the industrial zone, not far from where a battle between the Colombian cartel and the police department had took place until a third unknown party had killed and skinned all the cartel members.

At first, the police had thought Quintana had killed him in order to take his place as Vega's liaison, but when Ramón Vega was murdered in the same manner on his apartment, while Quintana was in a bar on the other side of the city, the charges against him were dropped.

The truth was Quintana didn't give a fuck who had killed Pereira, he was grateful with the bastard who had taken him out of the way. Los Angeles was now out of hand, because someone else had eliminated in a week all the Colombian and Jamaican mafia, he went back to Cd. Juarez and started a war with the rest of the mafia in the border, imitating the modus operandi of the LA killer, which Quintana compared to a hunter, hanging his skinned prey and taking 'trophies'.

Twenty years later, Quintana had consolidated himself as the main drug supplier of El Paso area, and for the same amount of time had eluded the Mexican authorities by living in the USA, the DEA and the FBI haven't been able to touch him because he posed as a respectable businessman to IRS eyes, using his money to buy silence and justice, and  _Los Esqueletos_  when the former failed.

\- o –

-"This killer is no better than me, a sick, murdering, cold blooded bastard. Either he is the same fucker back in LA and now twenty years later is no more than an old fuck, or is a copycat" Pedro said to himself.

Quintana entered his studio and admired his 'Trophy case', a large collection of jeweled weapons, bones and skulls, gold rings and other souvenirs taken from his enemies. Also, in a concealed wall safe, he had property papers generously 'donated' by those who he extorted.

-"In other circumstances I would hire him, I'd hate to waste such talent, but he'd killed my brother and that's why I must kill him." He took a gold coated FX-05  _Xiuhcoatl_ *, a Mexican army standard issue assault rifle, taken from a coronel who had ambushed on the desert once, but he had surrended once Los Esqueletos kidnapped his wife and children.

\- o –

On the antenna, the Hunter saw more of the armed men join the other guards at the perimeter, they were alert. " _Good, there is a chance it will be a worthy fight and not just another massacre_ " the Hunter thought. He evaluated each of the  _sicarios_ , there were a few with heavy guns; the most dangerous was the one situated on the roof, he had a Barrett sniper rifle, but as far as he didn't see him, there was no danger. The rest of them had the standard AK-47 and AR-15 assault rifles, deadly at middle range but not fit for close quarter combat, none had bladed weapons beyond knifes.

The Hunter remembered the time when humans had discovered powder, even then, they still fought using swords and bayonets, but they had become lazy, have choose perfecting the art of killing instead the Art of fighting. They traded the elegance of hand to hand combat for the efficiency of mass murder at long range. Even when confronted in close combat they resorted to trickery and cheating, this was disappointing, but the Hunter will change that, those killers beneath him would learn the true art of combat.

\- o -

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Hello readers, It took me a little longer to finish this chapter because I realized that I had to show a bit of the background of the cartel and Quintana. Unintentionally,they had links with another hunter. Oh and had placed a little easter egg towards another fictional character played by Benicio del Toro. I hope in the future some story where the Predator and Gillick meet.
> 
> Sapo. Toad, cartel slang for a snitch or informer.  
> Xiuhcoatl [ʃiʍˈkoːaːt͡ɬ] was a mythological serpent, it was regarded as the spirit form of Xiuhtecuhtli, the Aztec fire deity, and was also an atlatl wielded by Huitzilopochtli. The FX-05 Xiuhcoatl is a Mexican assault rifle, designed and built by the Dirección General de Industria Militar del Ejército (General Directorate of Military Industry of the Army) through the Fabricas Militares (Military Factory). The rifle was officially presented on September 16, 2006, in the hands of the Special Forces Airmobile Group, GAFE. (Grupo Aeromóvil de Fuerzas Especiales).


	10. TROPHIES

**Pedro Quintana’s Villa, Sundland New Mexico**

 

The attack came without any warning. The _sicario_ stationed on the roof with the sniper rifle relaxed a little just to blow his cigarette. In that moment something flew and landed on the barrel of his rifle; it looked like a little golden insect, with red luminous eyes.

-“<Shhh shhh, get out of here>” the man waved his hand to scare it. The little insect then shone with blue sparks and evaporated. “<What the fuck?>” the man exclaimed.

In front of him, more blue electric sparks appeared and a tall, humanoid form materialized. The man let out a scream and aimed the figure armed with a long spear with his rifle, he shoot and then a light explosion blew half his face.

The Hunter clicked, the tiny device worked good, but maybe too good. The ‘insect’ was really a powerful superconductor which magnetized the target. Unlike the directed energy weapons, the chemical kinetic projectiles from these primitive weapons can be stopped by a powerful magnetic field. More of the insect-like drones flew towards every single firearm on the yard.

-“<What the Hell is that? Open fire! Kill him!>” the guards shouted as they saw the Hunter on the roof.

Their weapons didn’t work; they blew to pieces as the lead and copper bullets stuck on the magnetized muzzle. Worst, one of the _Sicarios_ was wearing a heavy iron gold-plated necklace; it was attracted by the drone with such force that it cut his neck. The body fell to the flood twitching.

The rest of the guards dropped their weapons; some had minor injuries but nothing that prevented them from continuing to fight.

-“ _Mátenlo_ ” they screamed. The Hunter jumped from the roof besides the nearest guard. He swept his double tipped spear and cut the man in half.

Five men surrounded the Hunter, he stopped. The _sicarios_ pulled their bladed weapons, mostly _tanto_ knifes and one Bowie, the leader pulled a machete and smiled. The Hunter clicked, and then pressed a button on the spear and the pole shrunk; the Hunter hung it from his waist and readied the wrist blades, those made from the claws of the jungle moon creature.

-“ _< You want a piece of me? I want to have some fun>_” The Hunter mimicked Luis and Miguel’s voices.

All five attacked at once, they tried to grab the Hunter by his arms, but the Hunter was strong, he threw aside two of the _sicarios_ , and used the wrist blades to decapitate a third. The one with the machete cut the Hunter on the abdomen, but the mesh he was wearing stopped the blade from making a major injury.

The Hunter roared, punched him on the face, he fell to the pool behind him. Just in time two more armed men came, they weren’t on the backyard so their weapons still functioned; they shoot but the Hunter was faster, he evaded the barrage and used his disc to cut them in half through the abdomen.

The machete guy climbed out of the pool and fled, but he didn’t make it far. The Hunter pulled his spear once more and threw it at the man. “ _Don’t run Puto_ ” the Hunter said. The spear impaled the _sicario_ and sent him flying against a wall where he was struck against the power breaker, plunging the property into darkness

The Hunter looked around and let out a little roar, it wasn’t the usual victory roar because the battle was not satisfying enough, it was over too quickly. He walked around the bloodied floor and bodies, “ _Where’s the leader?_ ” the Hunter wondered.

-“Surprise motherfucker!” the shotgun shot hit him right in the abdomen and threw him against a window. The shot came from one of Pedro’s bodyguard, the only remaining.

The Hunter fell against a table inside the house, there was no fatal injury, but those scatter gun shots from the humans were really painful at point blank. Phosphorescent blood splattered the wall and glass.

-“Ha ha ha, I got him!” The bodyguard celebrated, and then peered inside the window.

-“ _I think I will keep this…_ ” A clawed hand grabbed him by the lower jaw, and then it pulled, he ripping it out. The hit man fell gurgling in a pool of blood. The Hunter held with the man’s lower jaw on his hand and put it on a bag dangling from his waist.

Looking around he inspected the large room, it was empty, none of the defenders were there nor his prey. The ‘great warrior’ was nowhere to be found. Instead, what he found was what appeared to be the prey trophy shelf, Full of weapons and some body parts.

For the _Yaksa_ , trophies were traditionally weapons and skulls, the few exceptions were objects given to them by defeated warriors, like necklaces, daggers, golden tokens or in the case of body parts, claws, fangs and spikes, those who had wounded the hunter who’d collected them.

There was a collection of high-powered kinetic projectile weapons, some gold-plated. The hunter didn’t understood what was the compulsion of these humans to bathe his weapons in that low resistance metal which could be easily melted by plasma fire, for him that had no tactical advantage beyond turning a tool into a jewel.

The same was for the body parts collected: Hands with no claws, flat human teeth, an eye in a jar and a… He clicked inquisitively, the only occasion in which a _Yaksa_ collected those were a very specific ritual about manhood, and it wasn’t from a sentient species, being _Yaksa_ or Human, it was from an animal, the one who symbolized fertility.

His meditation was broken when a series of shots failed by a few centimeters.

-“Did you like it, Fucker? Soon yours will be there too…” Pedro Quintana appeared on the doorway, _Xiuhcoatl_ in hand. “It’s here! Kill him, but be careful with my collection.” He shouted to someone outside.

The wall was pulverized by high caliber bullets. The Hunter crouched, and jumped outside where a SUV with a mounted machinegun were firing on his position. “ _More firearms_ ” he thought, “ _more soldiers and the prey is escaping_ ”

He saw Pedro jumping into another SUV in the yard, accompanied by more armed goons. He was about to follow them but the machine gun fire cornered him against a wall. He would have to take care of that first.

\- o -

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello again, I wanted this story with only ten chapters and this one would be the last, but I feel the Hunter needs more carnage. So there will be one or two more chapters just to tie loose ends.


End file.
